Confused about downtown Myrtle Beach parking? The city has a plan to make things easier
Myrtle Beach officials want to help residents and tourists distinguish the difference between public and private parking lots.
In an effort to ease confusion in downtown Myrtle Beach, the Myrtle Beach City Council approved a project on Tuesday that would rebrand, simplify and uniform all public beach access signage, parking decals and meter stickers with the city’s color scheme and official seal in city-owned lots. The circular logo has a blue backdrop with a yellow sun, white bird, palm trees and the words “City of Myrtle Beach South Carolina” on the border.
Assistant City Manager Fox Simons said the new signs would be placed at the entrance of each parking lot. Information regarding the change will be issued to the public, he said.
Currently, decals are light blue and meter stickers are beige. Public beach access signs are displayed with an orange sun and a white bird, with parking instructions easy to confuse.
“We’re going to do the best we can to make this as obvious as it can be,” Simons said.
With Lanier Parking Solutions managing parking enforcement, the plan requires the yellow sun and bird to be placed on their vehicles and equipment. City officials also want Lanier employees to sport a blue polo shirt with the sun and bird on the left breast pocket.
While Lanier won’t be wearing the city’s official logo, Simons said the shirts would create more uniformity and consistency.
“We want someone to recognize that this is a person that is managing city parking, but at the same time, we do not want to suggest these are city employees,” City Manager John Pedersen said. “That’s why you don’t see the (city) seal on these folks, but you see something that makes them think of the city seal.”
City officials agreed to add the parking company name on the shirts and equipment after Councilman Gregg Smith said it would make it easier to recognize a Lanier employee from a city employee when someone needs help.
City of Myrtle Beach Spokesperson Mark Kruea said he was unsure if the new signage would be in place before the parking season starts. Parking meters are scheduled to return on March 1.
This story was originally published February 15, 2019 at 4:01 PM.
